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Visiting his church, Église de la Sainte-Trinité, in Paris last May was nothing short of overwhelming for me. Yes, there were tears.

What an incredible composer, his organ works never fail to speak profoundly to me, even if I am not RC. I heard countless performances of Messiaen by the greatest British organists, and I studied several of his organ works. They are horribly difficult, but ultimately so rewarding. Messiaen's writing for the organ is expert, gloriously natural, a sensual pleasure under the fingers.

I never studied any of the piano works, but my life would be so much poorer without Trios petites liturgies de la Présence, Visions de l'Amen, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Seattle Symphony will do Turangalîla-symphonie in January.

Messiaen -strictly IMO- was not immune to occasionally overstepping himself. The sprawling oratorio La transfiguration de Notre Seigneur from 1965 is bloated, pompous, an often naive religious take-no-prisoners study in excess.